The Niersfonds eHealth Voucher is awarded annually to a bachelor or master student, PhD, or young alumnus (within three years of graduation) who has an innovative idea for an eHealth solution or an innovation in rehabilitation technology and who also wants to develop that idea further! The voucher, consisting of an amount of 5,000 euros, is made possible by the Niers Fund, a Named Fund of the University Fund Twente. The voucher is awarded in collaboration with the Department of Biomedical Signals and Systems of the University of Twente and the eHealth cluster of Roessingh Research and Development.
The purpose of the voucher is to stimulate new ideas for innovative eHealth or rehabilitation technology solutions. Participants can submit an idea or a prototype, along with an explanation of the impact on healthcare or patients, the goal, the functionality, the technical feasibility, the expected market potential, and a plan for further development of the idea. The prize must be used by the winner as 'seed money' to advance the idea. In addition to the cash prize, it will be discussed with the winner how the University of Twente (UT) can support them with hours, materials, and workspace. This support is intended so the winning idea can be developed into a prototype (e.g., in the DesignLab) or the winning prototype can be evaluated and tested (guided by a researcher).